Artificial Intelligence and Mental Health Services in Somalia: Opportunities and Health-System Considerations

Somalia faces a substantial mental health treatment gap driven by severe workforce shortages, limited specialist services, and weak health-system infrastructure. Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly promoted as a tool to strengthen health systems, yet its application in low-resource and conflict-affected settings requires careful consideration of feasibility, governance, and equity. This commentary examines realistic opportunities for integrating AI into mental health research and service delivery in Somalia. It requires AI to be viewed as a system-support tool rather than a substitute for clinicians, with potential to strengthen task-shared primary care, supervision, referral pathways, and routine data use within the District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2) platform. Examples of potential applications include WHO Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP)-aligned decision-support tools, automated data-quality checks, supervision dashboards, and mobile-based appointment reminders with privacy safeguards. Key constraints include uneven digital connectivity, affordability barriers, limited regulatory capacity, and evolving data protection frameworks under Somalia's 2023 Data Protection Act. Ethical considerations such as confidentiality, stigma, algorithmic bias, and digital exclusion are highlighted, alongside the need for human in the-loop oversight and monitoring of performance across vulnerable groups. In low-resource settings such as Somalia, responsible AI integration requires feasibility, equity, and accountability. Successful implementation also requires alignment with existing health-system platforms, strong governance safeguards, measurable outcomes, and sustained investment in workforce capacity. When carefully deployed, AI can support but not replace mental health system strengthening in Somalia.